College of Engineering

Helping NASA Track the Weather

Students take top precautions to participate in NASA, NSF weather study during total eclipse in Chile

Santiago, Chile was a success! Read more about our University of Idaho College of Engineering research team, led by Matt Bernards, NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium Director and U of I chemical engineering associate professor, and their work to measure and track eclipse-induced gravity waves that help us predict the weather.

NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium

Our University of Idaho College of Engineering traveled to Santiago, Chile to embark on a project to help NASA and the National Science Foundation in decades-long research.

The team was COVID-19 tested and self-quarantined before being sent into isolation at a research center in a remote location near Santiago, Chile.

Chile Eclipse

The U of I team launched high-altitude balloons along the path of totality during a total solar eclipse. Balloon payloads launched every hour on the hour Dec. 13-15.

Launch data was sent and analyzed by our Moscow-based mission control team, including students Jackie Martinez-Alvarez, Alex Chambers, Leah Davidson and Carlos Munoz.

Our Chile launch team included students Lauren Perla, Roslyn McCormack, Sebastian Garcia and Malachi Mooney-Rivkin.

U of I students collaborated with student teams from the NASA space grant consortiums in Montana, Oklahoma and Kentucky, who also conducted launches in other Chilean locations.

The work is a culmination of weekly launch sessions held this past summer to ensure the team is prepared for the timing and accuracy required during the consecutive launches abroad.

Weather Balloons